Space News: Astronomers Obtain Direct Image of Planet Circling Another Star (Photo)

(Clearwisdom.net) The United States Space network reported that astronomers believe they have captured the first direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The image below was published at the American Astronomy Conference in January 2005.

The Hubble telescope took the image of the planet at Hydra about 225-light-years away from earth. The planet is circling the Brown Dwarf Star. Its diameter is 1.5 times that of Jupiter, and its mass is about 5 times of Jupiter.

This newly obtained image confirms the picture taken by the European Southern Observatory. In April 2004, ESO found this planet with an infrared telescope in Chile. This planet is bigger than the largest planet in our solar system.

The discovery represents a milestone towards the imaging and spectroscopic study of planetary systems like Earth.

(Note: The English is translated from the Chinese Minghui article with reference to some news coverage on outer planets.)
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/1/11/93276.html

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